In an attempt to make communication easier within the New England Hillclimb Association (NEHA) community, along with folks wanting to kick the tires, VermontRacing.com is hosting (at no cost to NEHA) forums from the 2008/2009 banquet until the 2009/2010 banquet. We (VR.com) feel that forums are a better way to communicate with separate categories, specific topics that you can get involved (or avoid), ability to subscribe to specific topics, categories, or sub-forums, orderly communication, along with retention.

So, to the NEHA community, we offer FREE forums for a year. Let's see if it works.

Tim, Nick, Steve

What you should see....Each time you come to the forums you will need to log in to be able to post new topics or reply. If you are not logged in, you are only able to view (read-only) all the forums. Depending on your browser, you should be able to stay logged in (or at the very least remember your user name and password) so that you do not have to type in the log-in information each time. Here are the categories, forums and sub-forums that you should see at all times:

Options that are coming up soon...The default view for the forums (the theme; colors, images, buttons, etc.) for the NEHA forums is currently "Dirty 2.0". There are many different options to pick from for your view if you do not like this one.

Keeping in mind that each theme has different menu layout options, here are the instructions to select a different theme based on the Dirty theme layout (I haven't added a NEHA banner to the top of all themes yet, but they function the same):1. After you are logged into the forums, select "User Control Panel" at the top of the screen (under the NEHA forums banner).2. Select the "Board Preferences" tab.3. Select one of the themes that you would like to try from the "My board style" drop-down box.4. Click the "Submit" button. (things won't change yet until you start browsing the forums).5. This will now be your default theme. You can change it at any time.

We want your input!As it stands now, when you click on the "Forums" link on the NEHA forums, it opens the forums between the website buttons at the top and the "New England Hillclimb Association" footer at the bottom. This looks good on my computer, but may not work on all computers depending on the resolution that you are running. If folks would like the forums to open up full screen (either overlaying the NEHA website or in a new window) I can change the link. To can test this out by holding the SHIFT key when clicking your mouse on the "Forums" link; this will open the forums in a new window as opposed to between the website's header and footer.

I would also like your input on the categories, forums and sub-forums to work best with how you would like to communicate.

I think that the Brushed Metal theme is the easiest to see/use. I have made it the default theme (open to opinions/suggestions for other themes). The NEHA logo has been added to all available themes as of today.

To change your theme from the default:

Here are the instructions to select a different theme:1. After you are logged into the forums, select "User Control Panel" at the top of the screen (under the NEHA forums banner).2. Select the "Board Preferences" tab.3. Select one of the themes that you would like to try from the "My board style" drop-down box.4. Click the "Submit" button. (things won't change yet until you start browsing the forums).5. This will now be your default theme. You can change it at any time.

When you are not logged into the forums, you will see the Brushed Metal theme. Once you log in, you will see whatever theme you selected in your profile.